Column: Winning without Zeller

With 4:19 left, this column was stopped dead in its tracks.

Cody Zeller intercepted Northwestern forward John Shurna midair, as the Wildcats’ leading scorer made a circus layup.

Whistle.

And-one.

Zeller’s fourth foul.

IU’s best player up to that point, the column and a lot of hope made its way to the bench.

The Freshman of the Year finalist is the reason the Hoosiers made it that far in a scrappy 71-66 victory Wednesday in Assembly Hall.

With 23 points, seven boards, surprising perimeter defense and a slew of smart passes that led to three assists, Zeller was the story.

But with the game tied at 63 entering a crucial stretch that could give the Hoosiers that marquee 20th win, it fell upon the rest of the team to battle without its biggest weapon.

The atmosphere inside Assembly Hall made it feel like the Hoosiers were tentatively walking the plank.

Coming out of the timeout, Verdell Jones III, Christian Watford, Will Sheehey, Victor Oladipo and other reinforcements from the bench, who scored 22, somehow got it done.

In one defiant push, the group of non-All-Americans went on an 8-3 run throughout almost the entirety of the game’s final four minutes to secure the win.

“When (Zeller) fouled out, we had to find another way to score,” said Jones, who scored six points in his first game back from injury. “So we got a lot of turnovers and got layups, blocked shots, just driving and moving. Cody is definitely a big part of our offense. When he goes out, we need to find ways to score. I think our defensive end is how we got our points.”

Jones hit a baseline jumper to get the crowd on its feet and followed with a layup. With the Hoosiers trying to preserve a sensitive 69-65 lead with 1:09 left, Oladipo landed a big-time block on Northwestern guard Alex Marcotullio.

They proved they could win without Zeller when it mattered most.
“It was a veteran-led game,” IU Coach Tom Crean said.

I understand Zeller was much of the reason IU found itself in a position to win in the first place.

However, his dominance for so much of the game is the reason why other Hoosiers stepping up was so meaningful.

Crean was working with the same team he had last season.

The same names that won 12 games overall and three in the Big Ten a year ago closed out IU’s 20th victory this season and its eighth conference win, equaling the total from the past three seasons combined.

The faces were the same, but the players were different.

Crean often likes to remind us that each game is won in a different way.
Wednesday was no exception.

The Big Ten Freshman of the Week sat, three IU seniors in revised roles scored 16 points off the bench and the team came together.
Twenty different wins, 20 different ways.

­— azaleon@indiana.edu